Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Korean Lessons

Hopefully I'll be wearing one of these traditional Korean Hanboks when I'm in S. Korea next month. I'm meeting up with my mom and family to celebrate the Chinese New Year (but mostly to see my family).

So in the meantime, I'm basically doing some Korean-language cramming. I've been practicing some useful phrases with my mom over the phone--but it's really hard!!! The pronunciation has to be exact, or else it sounds like you're saying something else, something horrible.

For instance, I tried to say, "This tastes so delicious!" But my mom said it sounded like I said, "I do not like the way this tastes." And then I tried to say, "I'm really happy!" But my mom said it sounded like I said, "I want to die,". (Like, die meaning, I want to kill myself. Not, I'm dying from laughing too much!)

Also, I've been learning Japanese for a while too. At the Korean lesson tonight, I was conversing with one of the teachers, and everytime I wanted to say "yes", I kept almost spitting out the Japanese word, which is "hai". But I kept stopping myself right at the last second, so it basically sounded like I was a panting dog, "H--, h--, h--" was my response. My mom did tell me that I sounded like a Japanese person trying to speak Korean.

Watching Park Chan-wook movies is about as close as I'm likely to get to learning Korean! Good luck with it, I understand it's among the most difficult to learn.I've always found the feminine/masculine differences in non English languages the weirdest thing to crack - if it's a shoe, who cares if it's masculine or feminine, it's a shoe!

ahh korean is the easiest of the asian languages, but it's so difficult nonetheless. i blame my mom for my lack of korean, this is something that i should've learned before 5. 23 and learning a new language.. time needs to stop in order too have that happen. 행운을빌어 (totally googled that ^_^ )

A crash course in the Korean language would probably have helped even just a little. I was born in Seoul, but raised in the United States for most of my life & lost the ability to speak Korean. As you can imagine, visiting relatives in Korea was a bit....awkward as I could not communicate with all but two, my aunt & one cousin.

According to friends, I butcher my Korean pronunciation into sounding Japanese too. The languages are somewhat similar, pronunciation-wise... anyway, as musicians with a well-developed critical ear, I'm sure nailing down the right pronunciation will come in time.

BTW, I'm a graduate music student at USC, and I'm doing a jazz version of your song, "Wallflowers" -- I'm sure you're inundated with people giving you covers for your song, but if you want, I'd be happy to send an MP3 your way once I'm finished...

Hello! This is my first time commenting. And I must confess that i can totally understand your troubles. Learning both korean and japanese at the same time can be terribly confusing.

I've caught myself thinking of korean characters when I should be writing japanese and having sonsaengnim on the tip of my tongue when i should be saying sensei. It's nice to know that there's someone out there who is also challenging both languages.

Actually, a trick i've come up with is to think of the written words before i say them. Maybe it will work for you too!

there's a "Joy Luck Club" reference in here somewhere, I'm sure of it. I tried to learn Korean once, but after "hello", I pretty much just sound like I'm doing a really bad impression of a Japanese man - I had to stop out of shame :(

hi priscilla! i first saw you on a koream article! please check us out at www.myspace.com/aaronandjanewe would love to open up for you. we are trying to find our niche in the indie music world. peace....

It makes me remember when i tried to learn French. It was when i was 12 or 13. I thought French was so difficult, with the "ou", "que", "quelle", "au"... but my teacher, madame, was a monster, an ogre. Guess i learnt just... from fear. (hope she doesn't read this :P)

CuteI spent 2 weeks in S. Korea- loved the people and city,stopped asking what I was eating 2 days into my visit-Just ate and enjoyed the food. But would still prefer hamburgers and pizza. I am sure you will look sweet and beautiful in the Korean traditional clothes- Please take pictures and share.Oh, also the men treat the women like its 1955 in the US- surely an experience to have.

Hope this doesn't burst your bubble but did you know that one study found out Korean was the hardest language for children to learn ... supposedly, on average, they couldn't master some grammatical procedure until the age of five.

BTW, your post inspired my most recent blogpost ... we both have half-asian backgrounds. Please let me know if you have any thoughts.

I was listening to my 8 yo son in the other room a minute ago. I'm thinking, "what is that calming tune he is humming? It took me a minute to realize that it was the refrain (?) from "Dream". I haven't played that song in weeks....yet it is stuck in his head...you have very young fans girl. :) Have a great w/e.

I like the sound of Korean. It has this versatility that it might sound harsh like Japanese at times. Yet it is mellow and soft and affectionate. It is funny though, I am saying all of this but I don't know a single word.

I am sure you've already seen them, but in case you did not, cute Korean Movies like My Sassy Girl, Windstruck might serve as a fun way to fill your ears with Korean.

that is great that you are trying to learn. i want my children to be able to speak too, but they only know the basics. hanboks are beautiful!!! make sure you buy one while you are there. much cheaper than buying one here or having it shipped. :)

Hi Priscilla! I'm glad I came across your blog because 1. I love reading blogs and 2. it's your blog! My boyfriend and I really enjoy your music and we think you have a cute voice haha. My favorite songs of yours are "Wallflower" and "Red Cape". I love singing to them. :p

Anyways, I wanted to tell you about a blog that I'm currently using called Tumblr. I'm not sure if you've heard about it before, but I just wanted to let you know because it's awesome. There are so many pictures, quotes, music, etc that you can re-blog from. I think you'd like it. So if you ever plan on getting another blog and you decide to use tumblr, go to tumblr.com and let us know! I'd like to follow your blog! Okay, I feel like an ad so I'll stop now. :x

Ah! I'm trying to learn Japanese and Korean too. Well mostly Japanese but I've been dabbling in Korean as well. I'm completely infatuated with Asian culture and language. And the Korean language just sounds so super cute <3

안녕 프리실라!ㅋvisiting to korea for this 설날?that's what she said!who is she? you cousin.

there's a korean fanpage 4 u. http://cafe.daum.net/PriscillaAhn

months ago...one day, a girl, who said she's your cousin, wrote that you will come to korea to see your 할머니 on this site.i was like, 'wow priscilla's cousin?? envy her, but is it true?'and then you guys went to japan.so i thought maybe that girl is not priscilla's cousin. -_-;;

and then she uploaded pics of your EP and japanese dolls and wrote that your mom gave her your EP and you gave dolls to her.so i was like, 'hmmm maybe she's not lying she's actully her cousin, then why didn't she come to korea just next to japan?

and then you wrote this!!!i'm like, 'WOW that girl is really priscilla's cousin!!'ㅋㅋㅋ

she wrote that when your mom gave your first EP to her family, she said "우리 실라 첫 앨범이야-"(this is My Scilla's first record)she used '우리 실라(My Scilla / Our Scilla)'i think this is cute.... 우리 실라...(^.^;;)

this is a very very very late comment.i actually read this post weeks ago,but i couldn't comment 'cause of lack of confidence in writing in english and fear of taking much time and my laziness.my major was english but i'm not good at it. (shame!)it takes more time to write in english.anyway this time i did!